Diagnosis of Animal Diseases (new)

This datasheet guides to diseases judging from symptoms in animals, it is a tool to assist farmers find out what may be wrong when their animals look unwell or die suddenly. It aso provides guidance on how to submit samples from sick animals (or whole dead animals) to a laboratory for analysis.

Introduction - signs of disease

Farmers and pastoralists know that animals are sick when they notice changes in behavior such as refusal to eat, keeping to shady areas, or physical signs such as different breathing, coughing, body swellings and weakness etc.

Serious livestock farmers will keep observing their animals on daily basis to make sure no such signs miss their attention. It is important to catch such symptoms at an early stage in order to treat before the disease becomes too serious to treat.

The below guide to diseases judging from symptoms is a tool to assist farmers find out what may be wrong when their animals look unwell or die suddenly. It aso provides guidance on how to submit samples from sick animals (or whole dead animals) to a laboratory for analysis.

Animals cannot speak and tell us where they hurt. But we can observe the vital functions of their body and their behaviour. Feeding and ruminating are the best indicators of good health. For the good observer slight changes in feeding and ruminating can indicate beginning of a disease and early action can be taken (e.g. measuring the temperature). Th earlier you are aware that an animal is sick the earlier you can start treatment and the more successful your treatment is going to be. - Treating animals that have been sick for long (chronic cases) is very difficult, costly and often a complete waste of time.

Disease Signs include:

Loss of appetite or not feeding at all

Fever

Abnormal consistent of the faeces

Abnormal colour (or consistence) of the urine

Abnormal colour or consistence of the milk

Swollen and hot areas of the body such as lymph glands or the udder

Breathing rate

Unusual smells

Abnormal behaviour

1. Body temperature and fever

Normal body temperature varies by about 0.5degCelsius during the day and can be a bit lower (early morning) or a little bit higher (evening) than the normal body temperatures listed in the following table. To measure body temperature you need a veterinary thermometer. It is very cheap and can be found in most agro-vet shops. It is an essential tool for theserious livestock farmer.

Body temperature in animals

Type of Animal

Normal Body temperature in degC

Upper limit in degC (any higher temperature is fever*)

Cattle

38.5

39.5

Calves

39.0

40.0

Horses, mules, donkeys

38.0

39.0

Foals

38.5

39.5

Sheep

39.0

40.0

Goats

39.5

40.5

Pigs

39.0

40.0

Piglets

39.5

40.5

Rabbits

39.0

Dogs

38.5

Cats

38-39

39.5

Birds

40.5

Adapted from Blood Radostits Henderson

2. Breathing rate , lung noises and other internal sounds

Stetoscope

(c) William Ayako, KARI Naivasha

Use of a Stetoscope

(c) William Ayako, KARI Naivasha

Normal breathing rates for animals

You can count the breathing rate of a sick animal by standing next to it and counting the breathing movements for one or two minutes (inhaling + exhaling together count as one breath). There are different sounds generated inside the body of animals (like heart beat, breathing, stomach sounds), which are not easy to hear. Veterinarians (and human doctors) use a stethoscope that magnifies these sounds. Placing your ear on the skin of the chest wall of the animal above the lungs can help hearing abnormal lung noises in case of pneumonia. Veterinarians are trained to listen for abnormal sounds, so if there is a problem it is usually best to call the vet. However, keen farmers can also buy a stethoscope from an agro- vet shop and try to learn to use it.

Breaths per minute of healthy adult animals

Healthy adult

Breaths per minute

Cattle

12

Sheep,goats

12

Horses

12

Mules,donkeys

12

Camels

10

Pigs

15

Cats

20-30

Dogs

20

3. Observing and Describing Disease Signs

The following list of symptoms intends to help you in recognizing disease and to also describe the disease signs to others (e.g. to the vet over the phone):

Fever: measured by thermometer in degrees Celsius(shivering is often a sign of fever)

Mucous membranes: (these are white skin areas inside the eyelids below the eyeball, and the inside of the mouth, nose and vagina): They can be pink, dark-red, bluish, yellow, whitish-pale; with vesicles, with pustules/ulcers/blood/, cheesy deposits, sloughing off, stinking

Eyes: Can be cloudy/milky, inflamed, discharging water or pus, bulging out, sunken, bloodshot, blind (not reacting to movement of the hand), avoiding light

Lymph glands (also called Lymph nodes): easy to locate under the skin: can be enlarged

Skin: swelling, hot or cold, hard or soft, painful or painless, containing liquid or gas, pitting or crackling on pressure, tense or flabby, sharply or ill-defined, discharging pus, how distributed and of what size

Sending samples to a vet or to a lab

A diagnosis on the cause of disease (or death) can only be made from fresh samples. That's why it is important to submit samples for examination as quick as possible. Using a cooling box helps to keep samples fresh for a bit longer. Sending samples to a vet or laboratory that have stayed for some time and are already decomposed and smelly is a complete waste of time.

When submitting samples from a sick animal (e.g. faecal sample, milk sample) for analysis, always use clean containers (e.g. a screw cap jar flushed with boiling water before use) or a strong plastic bags for transport (use at least two bags, storing one sealed bag with the sample inside the other bag). Check that the transport container does not leak! Leaking containers can spread disease to whoever is transporting and handling your sample. Always send a written note with the sample. The note should provide information about:

Your address and contact (mobile number)

The type and age of animal that is sick (e.g. adult cow)

The number of animals that are sick

A full history of the disease signs seen (e.g. diarrhoea, swollen udder, not feeding, can't stand up, any abnormal behaviour)

Information since when the animal(s) is/are sick.

If a sick animal died a good description of the symptoms seen before its' death can help the contacted veterinarian to reach a diagnosis. Abnormal fluids and faeces (if the animal was slaughtered in emergency, also organs) of the dead animal, can all help in finding out the cause of death. Touching organs and fluids of an animal that died of disease can cause disease and even death in people! Do not carry out post-mortems on your farm as this endangers health and lives of your family, of yourself, your livestock and your neighbours! Protect yourself when handling fluids or faeces from a dead animal. - Small animals (chicken, lambs, kids, young calves) that died of disease can be taken to a vet or laboratory for post-mortem examination, but must be packed in a non-leaking sealed bag. Make sure the vet uses non leaking gloves when handling post mortem samples to avoid spreading of diseases to humans.

Examining blood

Blood smears can be taken from sick (or dead) cattle. In sick cattle prick the ear with a needle or the tip of a clean sharp knife and touch the drop of blood oozing out with a clean glass slide. With another slide touch the drop with one end of the second slide until the blood spreads along the angle between the two slides. Then push the upper slide along the lower slide so that it draws the blood after it. Wave the slide in the air until it is dry. Place inside a clean letter envelope and seal the envelope to prevent flies from getting in. Do NOT stick two smears together because it makes both useless for diagnostic purposes. Instead use one envelope per slide.

Also take a lymph gland smear from sick (or dead) cattle by inserting an 18 gauge needle attached to a syringe into a visibly swollen lymph node (best lymph node is the one in front of the shoulder blade), suck back on the syringe and expel the sucked up fluid onto a clean slide. Then let the slide dry and pack into a letter envelope for transport.

Blood samples are very useful for examining causes of diseases. Many diseases such as ECF, Babesiosis and anaplasmiosis are caused by microscopic disease organisms which will show up in a good blood or lymph node smear. Farmers can learn to make such blood smears and take them for analysis to the nearest vet or lab who has a microscope.

This will give a very accurate idea of the cause of the disease and will enable your vet to recommend the correct treatment. It is also much cheaper than tryng out different expensive drugs on the sick cow.

The procedure for making blood smears is simple:

Disinfect the inside of the ear with Dettol or Spiritus on a piece of cotton wool as well as the sharp knife to be used

Make a small prick in one of the blood vessels with a sharp pointed knife to draw just one drop of blood

Make sure the ONLY one drop of blood hits the middle of a clean glass slide and quickly draw a second glass slide through it to spread as thinly as possible on the lower slide. Wave the blood slide in the air for quick drying and place a clean glass slide on top of it to protect it from damage. Take the blood sample to the nearest vet office with a microscope.

Prick a vein in the ear to get a blood sample

(c) William Ayako, KARI Naivasha

Thin blood smear

(c) William Ayako, KARI Naivasha

A microscope for analyzing blood smears and other tissue samples in glass slides

(c) William Ayako, KARI Naivasha

Glass slides are available from pharmacies and from some agro vet shops.

List of Kenya Government veterinary investigation laboratories under the ministry of livestock development and their contact addresses

No.

Name of Laboratory

Address

Telephone Number

Location

Functions

1

Veterinary Laboratory- Kabete

Private bag code 625 Kangemi Nairobi

Kenya

Kabete

-Diagnosis of disease and parasites

-Analysis of samples

2

Veterinary Investigation Laboratory

P.O.Box

Kericho

Kenya

Kericho

-Diagnosis of disease

-Analysis of samples

3

Veterinary Investigation Laboratory -Karatina

P.O.Box Karatina

Kenya

Karatina

Diagnosis of disease

-Analysis of samples

4

Veterinary Investigation Laboratory-Nakuru

P.O.Box 114 -Nakuru

Kenya

Nakuru

-Diagnosis of disease

-Analysis of samples

5

Veterinary Investigation Laboratory- Mariakani

P.O.Box Mariakani

Kenya

Mombasa

Diagnosis of disease

-Analysis of samples

6

Veterinary Investigation Laboratory-Eldoret

P.O.Box Eldoret

Kenya

Eldoret

-Diagnosis of disease

-Analysis of samples

7.

Kenya Veterinary Vaccines Production Institute (KVVPI)

P.O.Box 53280 Nairobi

Kenya

020-536043

/651595

Nairobi

-Manufacture of veterinary vaccines

Diagnostic disease chart for cattle in East Africa

Lead symptom: Died suddenly - animal(s) not seen sick before death

All the diseases below can cause sudden death in cattle. The additional observations listed intend to guide you towards the most likely causes - but do not allow for confirmation of any particular disease. To get more information please follow the links below.

Many ticks, only exotic cattle (= European breed) affected, convulsions, froth in nostrils

-> Heartwater

Other possible reasons why cattle can die suddenly are:

Cattle have access to improperly stored chemicals, use of insecticide spray on/near cattle

-> Poisoning

Small bite marks on the head or leg

-> Snake bites

Sudden death only affecting suckling calves

-> see Calf problems

Lead symptom: Coughing and/or pus and watery fluid coming from the nose

All the diseases below can cause respiratory disease in cattle. The additional observations listed will guide you towards the most likely causes - but do not allow for confirmation of any particular disease. To get more information please follow links below.

Lead symptom: Diarrhoea - scouring

All the diseases below can produce diarrhoea in cattle. The additional observations listed will guide you towards the most likely causes - but do not allow for confirmation of any particular disease. To get more information please follow links below.

Lead symptom: Loosing condition, ribs sticking out, rough coat

With all the diseases listed below cattle do severely loose condition. The additional observations listed will guide you towards the most likely causes - but do not allow for confirmation of any particular disease. To get more information please follow links below.

Lead symptom: Abortion

All the diseases below can cause abortions in cattle. The additional observations listed will guide you towards the most likely causes - but do not allow for confirmation of any particular disease. To get more information please follow links below.

Additional observations:

Most foetuses are expelled near term, very often retained placenta after the abortion

-> Brucellosis

Very strong rains, females abort at all stages of pregnancy, newborns dying

With the diseases listed below cattle can develop anaemia (visible as pale/white membranes around the eyes) or jaundice (yellow membranes around the eyes) and have swollen glands. The additional observations listed will guide you towards the most likely causes - but do not allow for confirmation of any particular disease. To get more information please follow links below.

Large glands, deteriorating slowly, very weak, always sleepy, pale membranes, area has Tse-Tse

->Tryps

Normal feeding, anaemia, normal glands, sometimes diarrhoea

->(Blood-sucking) Worms Stom. & Intestines.

Lead symptom: Lesions on the skin

All the diseases listed below can produce lesions on the skin of cattle. The additional observations listed will guide you towards the most likely causes - but do not allow for confirmation of any particular disease. To get more information please follow links below.

Bleeding spot on skin, attracts flies and does not heal for a long time

-> Filaria

Lead symptom: Lesions in the mouth and on the head

All the diseases listed below can produce lesions inside the mouth, on the head and/or affect the eyes of cattle. The additional observations listed will guide you towards the most likely causes - but do not allow for confirmation of any particular disease. To get more information please follow links below.

Additional observations:

Drooling, lameness, erosions on tongue / gums and also between the claws

Lead symptom: Paralysis / Central nervous disorder / circling

With all the diseases listed below cattle can be paralysed or show abnormal movement and behaviour. The additional observations listed will guide you towards the most likely causes - but do not allow for confirmation of any particular disease. To get more information please follow links below.

Lead symptom: Lameness

With all the diseases listed below cattle can go lame. The additional observations listed will guide you towards the most likely causes - but do not allow for confirmation of any particular disease. To get more information please follow links below.

Additional observations:

Common causes of lameness in cattle are foot problems due to injury and lack of foot care:

Diagnostic disease chart for sheep and goats in East Africa

Lead symptom: Died suddenly - animal(s) not seen sick before death

All the diseases below can result in sudden death of sheep & goats. The additional observations listed intend to guide you towards the most likely causes - but do not allow for confirmation of any particular disease. To get more information please follow links below.

Additional observations:

Esp. young sheep affected, grazing on fresh pasture - short grass

-> Enterotoxaemia

Un-clotted blood oozing out, grazing in dry flood zone

-> Anthrax

Bloat, uncontrolled access to grain (maize or other)

-> Acidosis

Wet conditions, many ticks, often exotic sheep/goats (= European breed)

-> Heartwater

Esp. young sheep affected, abrupt change in feed

-> Septicaemic Pasteurellosis

Esp. young sheep in flood zone/swamp, also anaemia & bottle jaw

-> Black Disease/Liver fluke

Grazing after/during rain on/near recently fertilized field

-> Nitrite Poisoning

Only suckling lambs and kids affected

-> Lambs and kids problems

Lead symptom: Coughing and/or pus coming from the nose

All the diseases below can produce respiratory signs in sheep & goats. The additional observations listed will guide you towards the most likely causes - but do not allow for confirmation of any particular disease. To get more information please follow links below.

Additional observations:

Only goats affected and dying, no sheep with respiratory signs

-> CCPP

Climatic stress, all age groups of affected, mostly young animals dying

-> Pneumonic Pasteurellosis

Pox lesions on head and skin, lambs & kids with respiratory disease signs

-> Sheep and Goat Pox

Many sheep & goats affected, also diarrhoea, most adult goats dying!

-> PPR

Feeding normally, pus in the nose, sneezing especially in the morning

-> Nasal Bot Fly

Feeding normally, chronic cough, animals kept in cool highland region

-> Lung Worms

Only young animals affected

-> Pneumonia of the young

Lead symptom: Diarrhoea - scouring

All the diseases below can produce diarrhoea in sheep & goats. The additional observations listed will guide you towards the most likely causes - but do not allow for confirmation of any particular disease. To get more information please follow links below.

Only in lambs/kids, sporadic colic, no serious scouring, flat worms ("spaghetti") in faeces

->Tapeworms

Lead symptom: Loosing condition and showing a rough coat

With all the diseases listed below sheep & goats can be in very poor condition. The additional observations listed will guide you towards the most likely causes - but do not allow for confirmation of any particular disease. To get more information please follow links below.

Lead symptom: Abortion

All the diseases below can cause abortions in sheep & goats. The additional observations listed will guide you towards the most likely causes - but do not allow for confirmation of any particular disease. To get more information please follow links below.

Additional observations:

Many abortions, most foetuses near term, often retained placenta after the abortion

Lead symptom: Lameness & Stiffness

With all the diseases listed below sheep & goats can become stiff or go lame. The additional observations listed will guide you towards the most likely causes - but do not allow for confirmation of any particular disease. To get more information please follow links below.

Lead symptom: Lesions and swellings of the skin

All the diseases listed below can produce lesions and swellings on the skin in sheep & goats. The additional observations listed will guide you towards the most likely causes - but do not allow for confirmation of any particular disease. To get more information please follow links below.

Additional observations:

Pox lesions, scabs and crusts on lips, mouth and on the head, only in the young

-> Orf

Pox lesions, scabs/crusts on lips head and on whole skin, pneumonia in young

Lead symptom: Lesions inside the mouth and on the head

All the diseases listed below can produce lesions inside the mouth, on the lips or on the skin of the head in sheep & goats. The additional observations listed will guide you towards the most likely causes - but do not allow for confirmation of any particular disease. To get more information please follow links below.

Additional observations:

Pox lesions, scabs and crusts on lips, mouth and head, only in the young

-> Orf

Pox lesions, scabs/crusts on lips head and on skin, pneumonia in the young

Lead symptom: Paralysis / abnormal movement & behaviour / circling

With all the diseases listed below sheep & goats can be paralysed or show abnormal movement and behaviour. The additional observations listed will guide you towards the most likely causes - but do not allow for confirmation of any particular disease. To get more information please follow links below.

Review Process

Review May 2013: Dr Mario Younan (DVM, PhD), Regional Technical Advisor for VSF-Germany, working in East Africa since 1995

Information Source Links

John Gilmour 1992: Making the Most of Ovine Necropsy. In Practice Journal of Veterinary Postgraduate Clinical Study, Volume 14, No 3, May. ISSN No 0263/841 X

MJ Fitzpatrick 1950: Notes on Animal Diseases, The Diagnosis of Animal Diseases in the Veterinary Laboratory. Veterinary Research Laboratories, Veterinary Department Kabete, Kenya. Originally printed in the East African Agricultural Journal.